PUNE: Olympic double medallist Manu Bhaker and former World Champion Rudrankksh Patil will start in two events each at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, scheduled from September 19 to October 4. Anish Bhanwal will be the only shooter representing India in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event.
Selection Strategy
As reported earlier by TOI, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) focused on multitaskers for the Asiad squad due to a cap of 30 shooters per country for 36 spots. Manu will compete in women's 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events. Although the Paris Games medallist is ranked second in the 25m event, she was selected for the three-woman 10m air pistol team despite being seventh in the ranking after Trial 4 in Dehradun. In the 10m event, Manu will shoot alongside Suruchi Phogat and Esha Singh, while Rahi Sarnobat will join Esha and Manu in the 25m pistol event.
Similarly, Rudrankksh, who was fourth in the 10m air rifle event, has been chosen for that event and the men's 50m rifle 3-position event. Vidarsa Vinod, ranked fourth in the 10m air rifle and second in the 50m rifle 3-position, has been selected for both events.
NRAI's Tough Decisions
To adhere to the 30-shooter cap, the NRAI decided to name only one shooter for the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event. NRAI secretary general Pawan Singh told TOI, "It was a tough but unanimous decision as we had the challenge of picking fewer shooters for more events, considering the medal chances. Since the 10m air pistol has more medal chances, as it also has a mixed event category, we had to cut two shooters from rapid fire." He added, "In some cases, we had to include strong shooters like Manu in the team as she has experience of shooting in two events, despite being low in one of the two events."
Full Squad
Rifle (Men): 10m air rifle: Parth Rakesh Mane, Himanshu Dhillon, Rudrankksh Patil; 50m rifle 3-positions: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Niraj Kumar, Rudrankksh Patil. Rifle (Women): 10m air rifle: Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Uttam Maskar, Vidarsa K Vinod; 50m rifle 3-positions: Ashi Chouksey, Vidarsa K Vinod, Tilottama Sen; 10m air rifle mixed team: Parth Rakesh Mane and Elavenil Valarivan.
Pistol (Men): 10m air pistol: Kedarling B Uchaganve, Gaurav, Kamaljeet; 25m rapid fire: Anish Bhanwala. Pistol (Women): 10m air pistol: Suruchi, Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker; 25m sports pistol: Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat; 10m air pistol mixed team: Kedarling B Uchaganve and Suruchi.
